DELA CUEVA, Jojee Rose G. 2POL3 CREATIVE TITLE Tracing all the way back more than two millennia to Plato up to the time of the founding of the American Political Science Association, many political philosophers and theories contributed to systematic assumption and study about politics. These thinkers proceed differently in accordance to their views and interests; raise different claims, theories, or assumptions in order to acquire knowledge about the nature of political things as a fulfillment to their goal of quest for wisdom and universal knowledge. In striving to clarify the ways of dealing with the political world, philosophers draw upon existing knowledge and past experience to grasp the concerns it must handle and the avenues it
These ideas of Machiavelli are shown in his text ‘The Prince’. His view on politics strongly influenced the ideas of English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (Sullivan, 2004). In Hobbes’ book ‘Leviathan’ he further claims that politics is based upon self-interest; that is inevitable to avoid conflicts. Both Machiavelli and Hobbes thought that politics is about power and self-interest. These two prominent philosophers well explain what politics is and they may define the most appropriate definition of politics in the 21st century.
This individual work covers about Niccolo Machiavelli and his political theory. Because he is the theorist that inspired me and Machiavelli was the first theorist to decisively divorce politics from ethics, and hence to give a certain autonomy to the study of politics. Also he entered the history of political thought as the creator of a new science of politics. So I decided to start my first individual work with this topic. II.1) Who was Niccolo Machiavelli?
During the Enlightenment, there were many uprisings, rebellions, and revolutions as people began to question divine right and reform their government. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “We owe to this period the basic model of government founded upon the consent of the governed; the articulation of the political ideals of freedom and equality and the theory of their institutional realization; the articulation of a list of basic individual human rights to be respected and realized by any legitimate political system; the articulation and promotion of toleration of religious diversity as a virtue to be respected in a well ordered society; the conception of the basic political powers as organized in a system of checks and balances; and other now-familiar features of western democracies.” Had it not been for the Enlightenment and its ideals, the U.S Constitution and America's government would not be the way it is
The Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli ideas and perspectives helped to produced the custom or tradition of political realism. Both Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli in their writing were tackling morality and self-interest from different views. Hobbes was a researcher, whose point was to put governmental issues onto an investigative balance; he as a result employed a strict coherent way to deal with his work. Interestingly, Machiavelli personality were mainly active; he worked, principally, as a common worker of the Florentine Republic. In this research I will explain the different ways, which they used and how the difference they made has made the comparative views of human nature.
Unlike other philosophers and scientists, he had a different approach to politics. He examines his science and politics in an experimental and analytical way. Although many say that the way he examines and analyses politics and governmental issues was too strict, dictatorial and rigid, it can still be used in today’s world. To give advice to the prince and show what the prince should do to achieve a strong state, Machiavelli wrote his most famous book ‘The Prince’. In ‘The Prince’, he defines how to establish a successful state, how to gain stability of power, and the characteristics that princes need to have.
Machiavelli was born in 1469 in Florence, Italy and was a politician and philosopher. Machiavelli lived in a time in which the government was constantly overthrown. He worked for the Medici family, and when they were overthrown by the French, Machiavelli became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Republican Government. However, in 1512 the government was once again overthrown by the Medici family, for which they later saw Machiavelli as a traitor. In his effort to getting back to politics, Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a gift to Lorenzo Medici.
The very fact that Aristotle and Plato saw mistakes in the societies, in which they lived, encouraged them to write their political philosophies. These philosophies provided the first written recognition of politics. Aristotle in his works “The Politics” states that "Man is by nature a political animal"(The Politics; Aristotle) in other words, it lies deep within the instinct of man. It is almost primal. Due to his nature man should study and realize his role within the "polis".
Joseph L. Blotner makes it very specific by adding that ‘...a political novel is ... a book which directly describes, interprets or analyses political phenomenon.’ But from Irving Howe point of view, political novel means: ‘...a novel in which political ideas play a leading role or in which the political environment is the dominant setting.’ He further goes on to add that it may be so in the mind of the major characters: ‘...so that there is to ‘be observed in their behavior, and they are themselves aware of, some consistent political loyalty or ideological association. They now think in terms of supporting or opposing society as such; they rally to one or another tormented segment of society; and they do so in the name of, and under prompting
In Book 1 of Plato 's Republic, Socrates and Thrasymachus engage in a passionate, and often acrimonious, conversation regarding the relationship between a ruler and those he or she rules. Their conversation raises substantive questions about both the nature and purpose of government and the motivations and roles of those who govern. The following will address these questions by 1) explaining both Socrates ' and Thrasymachus ' understandings of the ruler-ruled relationship and 2) addressing the merits of each argument and offering my own philosophical position on the matter. First, with respect to Thrasymachus ' position, he believes that rulers craft laws for their "own advantage," and he considers justice to be the "advantage of the stronger" (339a). While the rulers implement policies that benefit themselves, the ruled diligently follow the rules promulgated by their rulers, for breaking the law can lead to punishment and "the greatest reproaches" (344b).